Jeans!

Last you heard, I’d run out of the thread I needed to make my Jalie 2908 jeans. The first two stores I stopped in looking for thread were a bust. The first didn’t have the same shade of gold, and the second was out of the gold entirely. It took me a week or so to make it back out to another sewing store. Although it was driving me crazy that week, it’s likely a very good thing that there are no sewing stores near my house. But even this store let me down. Though it had several shades of gold, none were a match for the one I’d been using. Crazy. I decided it wasn’t meant to be and went ahead bought the closest match.

If you look closely, you can tell that topstitching on the waistband, belt loops, buttonhole, and hem is a slightly different color than that used on the rest of the pants. But, really, who’s going to notice? I bet you can’t tell from the photo above, and, in all honesty, when I put them on this morning, it didn’t even cross my mind.

The jeans fit surprisingly well considering I made them up in my size according to the pattern without any modifications at all. There’s a little too much fabric in the crotch, the waistband gaps a bit, and they are bit baggier than I wanted at the back of my thighs. But, again being honest here, they probably fit just as well as many of my ready-to-wear jeans. Plus, I think it’ll be fun to address those few minor fit issues the next time I make this pattern thanks to the little bit of fitting that Kenneth King went over in his Jean-ius class. Also, I think the waistband gapping issue will be resolved if I simply follow Tanit-Isis‘s yoke modification.

These jeans are my fifth completed 2012 SWAP item to be posted to this blog. Now I just need to make them again as skinnies for one of the six SWAP items I have left. I’m a little behind SWAP schedule, so it’s a good thing jeans come together so quickly!

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Published by Amy

Amy started the blog Sew Well in 2011 to reflect on her journey to learn how to sew well. She is a scientist by training, and she also enjoys running and renovating her 100+ year old home with her husband and daughters in Seattle, WA.
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Thanks! They’re much easier than they look. The hardest parts were sewing over so many layers (especially with the buttonhole) and getting the bias cut waistband to behave. Kenneth King uses a waistband cut on the cross grain (if I’m remembering correctly), and though it wouldn’t give as much, it might be nice to have a bit of extra stability.

Great job! And yeah, no one will notice the thread difference, ever. Not even you, by next week.

I think the slight sagginess at the back could be solved by taking in the outseam just a smidge between hips and knee—stretch denims are so variable that this is a pretty common tweak to have to make, even if the pattern fits you perfectly. As for the rear gaping—as far as I can tell the Jalie pattern is drafted to the “flattest common denominator” in terms of bottoms—possibly on purpose, since it’s pretty easy to take a tuck in the yoke during construction, much easier than trying to flatten a too-curvy seat.

I’m curious, did you use the Jalie straight waistband as well? I use it when making pairs for my kids, but for myself I always use a contour waistband swiped from another pattern—straight waistbands are just asking for gaping. 🙂

I used the waistband as is. Good idea to use a contoured waistband. I’ll consider doing that next time. And, if the bagginess is just a simple taking in of the outseam, that would be an easy fix for even these jeans. Thanks for the tip’

Well done you! They look great! (And to echo what others have said: can’t see the thread difference, and even if you could, who cares? My favourite RTW jeans use two different thread colours on purpose.)

Great job – yet again!! Jeans have not been one thing I was ever going to make, but seeing yours might just tempt me into making a pair. We are getting more jean fabric in the shop now and RTW don’t suit me. Oh – the thread, truly I didn’t notice until you pointed it out. Yes – definitely make another pair.

Fab jeans Amy. Brilliant job and if you hadn’t told us about the thread we probably wouldn’t have noticed anyway! I really need to get those Jalie’s – have been wanting to for ages but you know how that list of wanna-sews grows.

Yay! Great job, Amy, and such a good fit on the first go. I’d definitely be interested to see how you skinnify them. And I’m not sure I get bias-cut waistbands–none of my RTW jeans have them and they seem to stretch fine enough without being on the bias. And ALL my jeans have waist gapping, which I look forward to correcting some day in my own jeans. But check you out–the SWAP has definitely been a great motivator for you!

Yeah, next time I might try something different for the waistband. Kenneth King cuts his on the cross grain from what I remember. And, I’ll be sure to post how I alter them, and then we can judge how successful the method was!

Yeah, I got really into Copperplate calligraphy during wedding planning and loved the A that I was taught. I miss the bold downstrokes you get from calligraphy (note to self: the downstroke might be neat as a double line of top stitching), but I love the letter itself. I hope to make a pair of jeans for my 4’10” neighbor using the Jean-ius class, and I might do a fancy L for her since her name starts with L. Can’t beat personalized jeans, right?

These look amazing, Amy! No one is going to notice the thread at all – people never study garments closely. They’ll just say, “Wow! Those jeans look fabulous on you! Where did you get them?” Because, seriously, you they look so RTW on you. Well done!

Hello! I’m Amy.

Welcome! Join me as I learn how to sew well while taking time to reflect on the process.

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